Dietary factors in the prevention of diabetes mellitus and coronary artery disease associated with the metabolic syndrome

Coronary artery disease (CAD) and diabetes mellitus are 2 of the most common causes of morbidity and mortality in the United States. Diabetes has been recognized for decades as a major risk factor for the development of CAD. However, a growing consensus has emerged over the last several years that diabetes and CAD share a number of common precursors, which are metabolically linked and which often occur together in the same individual. This cluster of metabolic disturbances has been coined the metabolic syndrome by the Third Adult Treatment Panel (ATP III) of the National Cholesterol Education Program (NCEP). Other terms have been used to describe this constellation of risk factors, including syndrome X, the deadly quartet, and the insulin resistance syndrome.